Biography

Daniel Robert Elfman, 29 May 1953, Los Angeles County, California, USA. Elfman quit school in his late teens and with his older brother, Richard Elfman, spent time in France, then moved to West Africa. Back in the USA in the late 70s, he joined rock band Oingo Boingo, led by his brother, and also worked in 1980 on music for Richards 1980 film, Forbidden Zone, in which he also appeared. Attracted to film music, Elfman admired composers Bernard Herrmann, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Nino Rota and Franz Waxman. His leaning towards dark and brooding work drew him to gothic films when he began composing for films and television, and he developed a special rapport with directors Tim Burton and Sam Raimi. Unusually for Hollywood film composers, Elfman is self-taught, a factor that some suggest lies behind the tardiness attending recognition of his work although he has had many nominations for numerous Oscars, Emmy, Golden Globe, BAFTA and Grammy Awards.